Thomas,
A friend from the forum set me up with the daughterboard - it has a Crystal chipset, but I don't know much more about it.

I'm scouring my parts bin (that would be my garage ) for the AC transformer - I know there's one out there somewhere.... but it was darn close to minus 20 F. this morning & I think our high was +5 F... so my search today was short.

Other than that the circuit is complete - and my controller was shipped on Monday.

I do recall that Popular Electronics, or perhaps Radio Electronics magazine, ran their own version of the GM Voice shortly after Thomas and I abandoned it 10 years ago and their version used the surface mount Crystal chipset. I'm sure I still have the article in my E-M filing cabinet.

Don't feel bad if you don't etch a pcb for this project. I've built 3 of these just using perf board. They all worked first time. It's a pretty simple circuit.

i etched a motherboard for only one reason: it will carry the db50xg and the GM voice circuitry and then it all gets panelmounted utilizing the cliff sockets i use. i am actually building a module for my modular, you know...

I can't begin to tell everyone how much of a hoot I've been having with my GM-Voice! Things just keep getting better and better as I learn more about it and what it can do.

This has encouraged me to go back and relearn the details of MIDI. As most of you know, in everyday life I am a college mathematics instructor. One of the things I spend a great deal of time thinking about in the class room is how to best organize seemingly disparate ideas, to help make technical concepts easier to master. As I was reviewing the MIDI language, it occurred to me that with a branching tree diagram it's simpler to learn the connections between the types of messages.

So, without any further ado, here's a chart I put together for my GM-Voice notebook. Perhaps it will help you to organize your thoughts as well.

And by the way, has anyone mentioned that the GM-Voice operates in a multimode? That is, it performs as sixteen independent polyphonic instruments, on any combination of channels and with a minimum of 24 simultaneous voices.

Thomas Henry

MIDI Messages.pdf

Description:

All-in-one chart showing the MIDI 1.0 message format for easy memorization.(.pdf format, and as always, prepared on a DOS machine in Geos!)

I'm completely new to everything midi - I have no clue. What commands do I need to initially send to the GM voice once I plug it into the controller?
Is there be any difference between Crystal chipset daughterboard and the db50XG or others that I should be aware of?

When you turn it on, it will probably come up as a Grand Piano. If you now push your Program Change buttons on the keyboard, you will proceed through the 127 basic voices. on any channel. If you play the keyboard on Channel 10, you'll get the drum voices, one per key.

That'll get you started. Be sure to download the cheatsheets I provided which show the Control commands for the other voices.

So in general, you'll get the basic 127 voices plus drums just by using the Program Change function. To get the other voices you'll do combinations of Program Change and Controller Change operations. That's more complicated, but you can worry about that later.

By the way, the GM-Voice operates in a sort of multimode. It receives on all 16 MIDI channels, and each one can be set to a different instrument with full polyphony.

Some MIDI programs use a 1-based system of counting, while others use a 0-based system. When I posted all those tables earlier, I prepared them for a 1-based system. Since then, I find myself using 0-based numbering almost exclusively. (For example, in MIDI-Ox, 0-based coding is used. In my old Cakewalk, I can use either).

So to stay consistent, and also make it simpler to code assembler routines, I've revised all of the tables to be 0-based. I also cleaned up some of the formatting, and added a few additional comments.

You'll find these files attached. I recommend punching them and keeping them in a 3-ring binder. Anyway, perhaps this will save you some typing.

Thomas Henry

GM Voice Docs.zip

Description:

Complete GM/GS tables for the GM-Voice project, in .pdf/zipped format.For personal use of EM-ers only. Please don't copy or distribute.

I blame Thomas and Dan for sucking me into the world of MIDI, especially because I'm such a Midiot.

In any case, I've learned more about MIDI this past week than I ever knew before, mainly because of this project (which still needs to be built). Has anyone discovered if their GM Card has the extra drum voices on channel 10 (which can usually be accessed by a program change such as 41 or 48 to name a couple of examples)? These sets include the 808 drum sounds as well as Orchestral drum sounds (which has some really nice Timpani). My SC-7 has them anyhow.

you know you can breadboard the circuit up to try it out, oh ye master of the solderless breadboard!

Actually I'm using midi in the classic sense less and less. I use it more to stack instrument sounds and record. I don't plan to sequence much outside of the rhythm tracks with it. Well, at least this week. Next week, I'm sure I'll flip flop.

I don't plan to sequence much outside of the rhythm tracks with it. Well, at least this week.

That's sort of the point I'm at now, though I'm approaching it from the direction of a lower level of knowledge rather than a higher level like yourself. I'm running this really spiffy step sequencer program, SoftStep from Algorithmic Arts (version 1.3). It's a real gas.....

I'm still too low on the curve to produce anything listenable, but I'm learning, be it ever so slowly.

One thing you might want to look for is a new midi controller keyboard. If you get one with assignable controllers (knobs/sliders) you can vary the sound characteristics while recording. Another good feature would be multiple channel output so you can split the keyboard with say a bass on the bottom octaves and an organ on the top OR layering voices with a piano on one channel and a string section on another channel (my favorite). The more advanced controllers will let you do any combination of splits and layers. Another feature I've seen is velocity switching. I'll use this on guitar voices. With low velocity, the output is a muted string and when I hit the keys hard, it's an open string sound. This is great for rhythm guitar parts. Lots of folks use the two different slap bass sounds to do the Seinfeld bass thing....a little overused, but you get the idea of velocity switching.

I use a Roland AX-1 (pls spare me the keytar jokes...heard 'em all!) which allows for both splits and layers.

It looks great! Very compact and professional looking! Plus you have one of the best daughterboards in the Yamaha db50XG. They're the best I've tried so far, although I haven't tried the new ones from Terratec Producer (Wave XTable). You will be very impressed with the amount of programming and manipulation of the sounds you can do via midi commands.

before i inserted the ICs and the db50xg i checked the motherboard as usual: the supply voltages where okay, +5V, +12V and -12V where they ought to be (i am powering the motherboard from my +/-15V supply, using onboard LM781x regulators).

as soon as i insert the daughterboard the +12V supply voltage drops to 7.5V and the LM7912 regulator gets really hot. the 15V offboard supply voltages are not affected...

the motherboard seems to work - according to the LED MIDI indicator. i did not try the MIDI thru though...

i reviewed my schematic, it seems to be correct. will check the PCB layout tomorrow.

i've bought a board a day ago, so once this is there, i might be able to lend it out to you. are you willing to share the pcb design ( as i'd like to make one for my modular as well)_________________Homepage - http://www.czmok.de
My dIY - http://diy.czmok.de
Film/Music - http://gfm.me

Sorry about the trouble Although it's likely it may be a bad daughter card, try swapping out the +12 V regulator just in case it is a "bum" component You never know. It may test good with no load, but with a load, well that may be a different story.

Will see what we can do to get you up and running .... I have a spare of exactly the same one you have [db50] SO if it's damaged, I can part with one of mine for you

Bummer! When I measured the current drain on mine, the -12V side drew virtually nothing, so something's up here.

Don't be offended, but double check the 26 pin connector and make sure you got the orientation correct. It's pretty easy to trace the ground, and +5V lines on the daughterboard as a check that you haven't flipped things. As I see it, that's the most likely cause of the symptoms you've observed. Next on the list would be a defective daughterboard.

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